Letter from
Mary's Touch By Mail
on the occasion of the election
of Pope Benedict XVI
(AFP photo)
April 22, 2005
Dear Friends,
Together with you, we rejoice over the election of
our new Pope, Benedict XVI, and give thanks to God for giving us such a
reliable and saintly shepherd. We are convinced that the persisting
dilutions and distortions of the divine teachings by many in the Church
for the past several decades under the pretext of attuning to the
progressing world and human agenda have been the underlying cause of all
the major problems in the Church such as the weakening of the faith, moral
disorders, and the loss of missionary zeal. Our new Pope has made it
clear as the Prefect of the Sacred Congregation of the Doctrine of the
Faith for the past 24 years that his main concern is about the lack of
doctrinal discipline in the Church and that he will not be equivocating or
hesitant in dealing with this problem. Of course, we expect the new Pope
always to be charitable in pursuing dialogue and persuasion to promote
doctrinal integrity and unity and minimize the use of more disciplinary
means which he sometimes used in dealing with some theologians who were
obstinate in their deviation from the authentic Church teachings. But, at
the same time, he is not likely to squander this precious opportunity that
the Lord is granting him and the Church for purging all the human-oriented
doctrines that may sound sweet but can never really deliver the true
salvation that Our Lord promised us. Errors, or non-truths, preclude the
true faith and also precede and promote moral failures. Actually, errors
are what bring about all kinds of evil and disaster. Can we imagine that
a building, a bridge, an automobile, an airplane, or a computer built
based on incorrect principles and calculations could function safely and
efficiently? The devil's first step in inducing Eve to commit a sin was
to lure her with a sweet lie. When we are negligent as to the Truths and
Commandments from the Lord, we will be exposing ourselves widely and
dangerously to the temptations by the devil, like a person who builds his
house on sand. Rehabilitation of ourselves in the authentic divine
teachings of the Church, pure from all errors and compromises, is the key
to revitalizing our faith and restoring the missionary zeal in the
Church. This is why we are so grateful to the Lord and the Blessed Mother
for choosing a person like Joseph Ratzinger as our new Pope and are so
hopeful about the prospect of the necessary reforms being made in the
Church in coming years.
The new Pope has also been better informed than any
other Cardinal in the Conclave about the current situation in the Catholic
Church in Korea. As the head of the Sacred Congregation of the Doctrine
of the Faith, he received many detailed reports from the Apostolic
delegate in Korea and others. Some years ago, Cardinal Ratzinger issued a
warning to three theologians in Korea for their radical liberal doctrines
promoted through their speeches and publications. They were removed from
their teaching positions in the seminary, but have continued spreading
their heretical doctrines in defiance of the Holy See. One of them even
became a member of the Naju Investigating Committee in the Kwangju
Archdiocese and played a leading role in producing the Archbishop's
negative declaration on Naju. Of course, from the standpoint of a radical
liberal, the messages and miracles in Naju are totally unacceptable, as
these messages and miraculous signs draw people to every Church doctrine
that is resisted by the liberals—namely, the Real Presence of Our Lord in
the Eucharist, the essential role of the Blessed Mother in the Church and
for our salvation, the importance of the Sacrament of Confession and
penance in reparation for our sins and others', the need for obedience to
and unity with the Pope, the preciousness and dignity of the priestly
vocation, the sanctity of marriage, the precious value of human life from
the moment of conception, and so on.
Especially since early February, when the health of
our late Pope, John Paul II, began to decline sharply, the persecution of
Naju by the Pastor and the Archbishop has intensified dramatically. Now,
the Naju Pastor openly demands that Julia and her volunteer helpers close
down the Chapel and the Blessed Mother's Mountain and bring the Blessed
Mother's statue and all evidence of the miracles as well as the message
books and other publications to his office. But how can Julia surrender
the Blessed Mother's statue to the Pastor who has vowed to destroy the
statue into pieces and demolish the Chapel with a bulldozer? The Pastor
says that he will allow Julia and Julio, her husband, back to the parish
church, if they publicly declare that all the messages and miracles have
been fabrications and promise that they will never promote them again.
Doing this would be a betrayal of the Lord and the Blessed Mother, and
Julia and Julio will never do it. Now that Cardinal Ratzinger has been
chosen the new Pope against the liberals' expectations and hopes, the Naju
Pastor and the Kwangju Archbishop may think twice about continuing their
intense persecution of Naju. We don't know yet, and will keep watching.
We will also continue making periodic reports to the Holy See on the
changing conditions concerning Naju. We also invite all our friends
inside and outside Korea to continue their prayers for the Blessed
Mother's triumph as soon as possible and also to multiply their efforts to
spread the truths. The Blessed Mother has said in Naju that she has been
chosen by the Lord as His Helper and also that we have been chosen by her
as her helpers. We are unworthy and weak, but the Blessed Mother relies
on our cooperation to accomplish her triumph over the devil. Every little
help that we give her will make a difference. Nothing is insignificant if
sustained by faith and motivated by love.
There are some people who are good Catholics and say
that it is enough to go to Mass, make Confessions, and be faithful to the
Church teachings and that the so-called "private revelations" like those
in Guadalupe, Lourdes, Fatima, and so on are not necessary. They are
correct in that the private revelations, or more correctly the special
revelations as they were called during the Council of Trent, do not bring
us any new teachings and that we have every truth and every Sacrament
necessary for our salvation in the Church already. If any reported
special revelation pretends to give us a new teaching or alter an existing
one, we need to reject it immediately as false. But, to work out our
salvation, knowing and believing the teachings and commandments is only
the first step. We must put them into practice and must also spread them
to others in the world. The Lord's only purpose in giving us the special
revelations is to help us in that second aspect of our faith life.
Without the Blessed Mother's messages and miraculous image in Guadalupe,
the massive conversion of the Mexican people to the Catholic Faith
probably could not have happened. God is now sending us the Blessed
Mother along with her messages and miraculous signs so that we may
overcome the terrifying evils of materialism and secularism of the modern
world and succeed in revitalizing the whole Church in the true faith and
charity. The Church teaches: "So that she can fulfill her mission,
the Holy Spirit bestows upon the Church various hierarchic and charismatic
gifts, and in this way directs her" (Catechism of the Catholic
Church, #768). The charismatic gifts including apparitions, messages,
and miracles, if genuine, do not compete with the hierarchic gifts but
reinforce them in producing the supernatural fruits in the souls of the
faithful. That is why St. Paul said: "Do not quench the Spirit. Do
not despise prophetic utterances. Test everything; retain what is good.
Refrain from every kind of evil" (1 Thessalonians 5:19-22). In
Naju, Our Lord said on September 22, 1995, immediately after Bishop Roman
Danylak from Canada and others witnessed a Eucharistic miracle through
Julia: "Because My Mother's loving and kind words for the past several
centuries have been ignored, sin has reached a saturation point, even
within the Church". Again, we are not formally obligated to accept
the messages and miracles in special revelations, but we are still truly
invited by the Lord and the Blessed Mother to accept them with love and
gratitude, make them our own, and put them into practice in our daily
lives. Refusing to accept this invitation may not be a sin against the
faith but still is a failure to appreciate and utilize the precious gift
and offer of help from Heaven. When we truly understand and accept what
the Lord and the Blessed Mother are offering us in Naju, which seems to be
the last, full blossoming of the series of the Marian messages and
miracles for the past several centuries, we will be amazed at the miracles
of our own lives changing for the better and the whole Church restoring
the splendor of her truths and the vitality and fervor among her members
for the evangelization of the whole world.
On April 16 of this year, from 8:30 p.m., Fr. Pete
Marcial from the Philippines was celebrating Mass in the vinyl-tent chapel
on the Blessed Mother's Mountain in Naju. There were about 260 volunteer
helpers and pilgrims at the Mass. Suddenly and totally unexpected while
they were singing the Sanctus, two Sacred Hosts came down and
landed on the altar. Fr. Marcial and many others saw the two Sacred Hosts
descending from above. Besides, the spots on the altar where the Sacred
Hosts landed became wet with fragrant oil giving off an intense sweet
fragrance. This miracle was a great joy and consolation to those at the
Mass, as the heavy clouds of worsening persecution were looming over
them. It was a clear sign that God would be with them throughout these
difficult times. We also think that there must be some more significance
to this miracle, which we can only speculate at this time. April 16 is
the feast of St. Benedict Joseph Labre of the 18th Century
France as well as the birthday of our new Pope. One of the reasons why
the new Pope chose "Benedict" as his name may be this connection
between this Saint's feast and his own birthday. Could this miracle in
Naju be an indication that Cardinal Ratzinger would be elected Pope three
days later? Does it also mean that Pope Benedict will play a key role in
officially recognizing Naju? We only hope and pray.
Our special offer announced recently that 300 copies
of our 4-page color brochures (the 2005 issue or the 2004 issue, or any
combination of the two) would be sent by Priority Mail to any location
within the United States for $30 remains valid. Now we also add the 2000
issue under the same condition. This 2000 issue is called "Mary's
Touch - Special Issue", which everyone on our mailing list must
have seen already. This issue contains a summary of the miracles in Naju.
All three issues contain color photographs plus the text.
Thank you for your help. We pray for God's blessing
and the Blessed Mother's love for you!
Sincerely yours,
Sang
M. Lee
Mary's Touch By Mail
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